419 Scam Costs Britons 8.4m GBP in 2002 314
Albanach writes "In this article the Scotland on Sunday newspaper reports figures from the UK's National Criminal Intelligence Service which show 150 Britons were caught out by the Nigerian 419 scam and its variations in 2002, with a total loss of 8.4m GBP ($13.3m US)or around 57,000 GBP ($90,000 US) a head. "
How about (Score:2)
Re:How about (Score:2)
Yeah, and after that, let's fund a billion dollar campaign to educate the world about the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and DNF.
Re:How about (Score:5, Funny)
I totally agree. You just can't teach common sense. Why, just today, I was talking with the finance minister of Uganda as I was transfering control of my entire life savings in a complex attempt to skirt international finance laws, and he said the exact same about the Nigerian scam. Some people are just surprisingly gullible.
Negotiate (Score:2)
I just can't get "girl who runs computer" out of my mind.
Re:Negotiate (Score:2)
Re:How about (Score:2)
Do these guys have anything in common with the Xupiter/Gator/Whenu.com people? I'm wondering if maybe there's some connection that could confirm any conspiracy theories about the internet.
What would really be freaky is if the RIAA and MS were behind it as well... I'll have to do some research on that one...
Re:How about (Score:2)
Yes, they are both run by complete and total shits.
Scumware is a major problem in its own right. One of the rising vectors for scumware is spam. People are sent spam with active-x components, javascript exploits etc. that try to install the scumware without notifying the user. [Yes toto, they do do that even though they claim that they don't]. Alternatively the user is sent to a web page which tried to download the component.
The interesting question to me is how these scumware companies make money. Selling demographic information can be profitable, but the figures don't add up. How can it be profitable to spend $3 a user to install a component? Net advertsing is in a slump, few sites can cover their costs. How on earth can the scumware vendors with disreputable business practices get advertisers in this market?
Something does not ad up here.
Re:How about (Score:2)
They ARE terrorists. Probably down with Bin Laden too.
Re:How about (Score:2)
Since nobody writes letters from Nigeria claiming to be the Tooth Fairy, I think that this second campaign of yours is a boondoggle. The Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy don't leave the borders of the country with upwards of 80 million a year either.
As much as we like to see a small number of incredibly stupid and greedy people suffer tremendously, it is still within the public interest that this get stopped.
I am the backhoe fairy. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:How about the payback angle? (Score:2, Offtopic)
Don't forget that "no truly honest person falls for these scams". The greedy fools who wanted to defraud the Nigerian government got defrauded themselves, and they have the gall to complain
But one thought constantly crosses my mind when I hear people complaining about these crooks. I am ever surprised that no one talks about colonization, slavery, land grabs, and all the other "scams" the nation of Britain pulled on Nigerians for centuries. And don't forget that those scams were sanctioned by the British Government itself
No, I'm not bitter... part of that was our fault. But when enteprising young men from Nigeria (much like British "entrepreneurs" in the late 1800s and early 1900s) decide to fleece Britain or America, fooling the locals from those countries, I must admit it makes me chuckle just a little bit
Yes some American and British victims are "innocent", and I realize a few people have actually died while pursuing these quests for illegal money, so I'm not trying to belittle the situation; governments should continue the crackdown on these perpertrators, and their foolish victims. Yes the victims; what ever happened to aiding and abbetting a crime? That should make them delete those emails quick!
I hope I have been able to add another dimension to your thoughts when you read about 419 scams.
Nwanua.
What did you expect? (Score:2, Funny)
Scurvy makes you think crazy things.
Huh? (Score:2)
Re:Huh? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:What did you expect? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:What did you expect? (Score:2)
Right, scurvy is out. So what is the cause? Maybe it's the pickled eels?
I wonder... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I wonder... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:I wonder... (Score:2, Insightful)
I suspect the difference is that the UK government is much more protective of its citizens than American governments. In general, North American governments disallow things that are proven to be dangerous, whereas European government allows things proven to be safe.
The effect is that over here there is a much greater level of trust amongst consumers. So when a scam artist arrives, more people fall for it.
Re:I wonder... (Score:2, Insightful)
blue
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
What a lot of people don't seem to realize is that part of the appeal of the scam is that the plot to transfer the money leads to a situation where the supposed outside helper can walk away with the entire bankroll instead of just the helper's fee and the supposed owner of the money can't do anything about it because they're stuck in their country or otherwise unable to pursue you for it.
Not all of the people who fall for this scam are going for the full take, but I expect many are.
I was going to say that I think more Americans are more likely to go for the scam, but come to think of it I don't know the Brits very well and can't make that comparison. But it is my impression the scam aims at more well-to-do people and that there are more well-to-do suckers in the US than GB.
Re:I wonder... (Score:4, Funny)
Only if you're standing on your head! It's a stiff *upper* lip you're thinking of.
How stupid can people be? (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean, if you're that stupid, it's probably best for society if you don't have any economic influence anyway. Your right to vote should probably be taken away as well.
Re:How stupid can people be? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to mention these people are directly supporting the spam industry and making it very lucrative. The victims so richy got what they deserved. Consider that their fine and tax for stupidity.
Re:How stupid can people be? (Score:2)
Yeah, just like lotteries are an extra-tax for people with poor math skills.
Re:How stupid can people be? (Score:5, Insightful)
However, most the people who fall for it are also dishonest; in most cases they think they're bilking the Nigerian (or Botswanan or whatever) governments. Makes me feel a bit less sorry for them.
Re:How stupid can people be? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How stupid can people be? (Score:2)
Most of those people don't even know what "laundering money" means. They think they're helping some guy get his money away from a corrupt government and that they'll make a nice chunk of change in the process. I think they really are stupid.
Re:How stupid can people be? (Score:2)
But when Cakes Law v1.0 ("Everyone is a Fuckwhit") comes into play amasing things happen.
Kinda like spam (Score:2)
important matter (Score:5, Funny)
We Do Not Know Each Other But I Am The Son Of The President Of Scotland Yard. I Need Your Help To Recover The Sum Of One Point Five Billion Pounds (Bp 1,500,000,000) Which We Have Recovered In Nigeria. To Proceed Please Send Your Credit Card With The Pin On A Post It...
(lameness filter preventing to post in upper case)
Re:important matter (Score:2)
Re:important matter (Score:5, Informative)
The person who was scamming the scammer got very elaborate, sending fake passports, documents, etc. with the name "James Kirk". It's quote funny.
I tried the same thing some months back and I actually got the scammer to fax their documents to the FBI electronic fraud group. He e-mailed me back saying he phoned "my number" which actually was the FBI and the woman there said there was no James Kirk ... hehe
But seriously, if you receive a physical letter and you're in the USA, fax it to the FBI at (202) 406-5031. The Internet Fraud Complaint Centre [ifccfbi.gov] is worth a visit, and in canada you can forward all such e-mails to wafl@phonebusters com [mailto] which is Phonebusters which is a fraud specialist group that's federally funded.
Re:important matter (Score:2)
And then they complain about the US not using the metric standard!
Never... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Never... (Score:2)
That probably explains why they haven't found a thing yet, except for a sighting of Elvis in Tescos.
I'm not surprised.. (Score:2)
Actually... (Score:3, Funny)
I think the Brtions are not the only ones... (Score:5, Interesting)
US and UK announce new "War on Spam" (Score:3, Funny)
How about the legitimate dictator's relatives? (Score:5, Funny)
They send out email to a select few upstanding citizens, hoping to be able to get their millions out of the country for a small percentage of the money. Then, no one believes that the offer is legitimate!
Yes, these deposed dictator's relatives are the real victims in all of this! Let's not forget about their tragic plight.
Just goes to show (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just goes to show (Score:5, Insightful)
The con artist goes to a Western Union outlet and sits down as if he's (she's) waiting for a wire transfer. Time passes. The mark comes in, someone who is obviously waiting for a transfer and is impatient when they find that it's not arrived. The con artist strikes up a friendly conversation with the mark. They both mention how they're waiting for a desperately needed wire transfer and they're both impatient. The con artist suddenly gets an idea. "Hey", he says, "You know what? If my wire gets here before yours does, what'll you say that I just loan you the $X you need and you can pay me back tomorrow after your transfer gets here?" The mark says, "Gosh, that's really nice of you. And I'll do the same thing for you." Since the con artist doesn't actually have money coming in, inevitably the mark gets his transfer and offers the loan to the con artist. The con artist takes it and walks away, never to be heard from again.
Now, this is only marginally plausible, but it's the example that came to my mind. Most people these days would politely refuse the offer, but some wouldn't, and some of them would gullibly offer to reciprocate.
"Mike", the con artist in "House of Games" that demonstrates this con to the psychiatrist, asks her if she know why these are called "confidence games". She responds, "Because someone gives you their confidence?" Mike says, "No. Because I give them my confidence." Which is a brilliant line and also very true.
Almost every person has some "weakness" or another that makes them vulnerable to a con artist. Often, yes, it's greed and dishonesty. But it can also be generosity, compassion, or simple confusion. And, more often than you might think, it can be arrogance or over-confidence. Some of the people here who are ridiculing all victims of a scam as being "stupid" may be vulnerable to having their overconfidence exploited. Carl Sagan (and others) wrote about how it is that scientists seem to be surprisingly easily tricked by "scientific" fraudsters (paranormalists, etc.). It's because the scientist's overconfidence is taken advantage of; that the fraudsters, like magicians, misdirect the scientist's attention to areas that they naturally focus upon and perform their slight of hand in places where the scientists aren't looking and didn't think to look. A con artist will do the same thing--set up something that looks like a scam to attract the suspicious mark's attention, then perform the real scam in a direction the mark isn't looking.
Everyone thinks they are immune to being conned. They're almost all wrong.
That said, there's almost no chance that I could be scammed by a con artist appealing to my greed. I'm automatically suspicious of any potential windfall from any source. But, on the other hand, I'm almost certainly vulnerable to a carefully crafted scam that takes advantage of generosity or compassion like the one I detail above. The only comfort I take in that is that there are more scams leveraging the mark's greed than there are that leverage other characteristics.
A classic, authoritative book on the history, psychology, and sociology of confidence artists and their cons is "The Big Con [amazon.com]" by David Maurer.
Re:Just goes to show (Score:2)
Have we forgot? (Score:5, Interesting)
THE 'victims' tooks part in the scam, trying to import and export money while avoiding reporting it and paying taxes.
Shouldn't all 150 go to prison? Remember, the fraud of millions is also on Brittain's side of the table with its citizens...
Re:Have we forgot? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think that the 'victims' here are the rest of us. I could care less about the people that lost their money. But in the last few months, the amount of 419 spam I get has simply exploded, to the point where it now makes up a noticeable portion of my spam load. And the reason is of course that the scammers have found that the 419 stuff pays.
Re:Have we forgot? (Score:2)
For what? Attempted tax evasion? Hell, you may as well arrest the entire country then.
About the only thing you can accuse them of is terminal stupidity and/or gullibility.
Fortunately I don't know anyone (personally) that's been taken advantage by this or any other conartist to a significant extent. But I'm sure you'd be the hit of the family if your grandparents lost their life savings to such a con artist and your only suggestions was to throw them in jail.
Very compassionate of you.
Re:Have we forgot? (Score:2)
See if it works at home or at a neighbor's house.
If it works for anybody, please post what happens cause I won't
More information (Score:3, Interesting)
The 419 coalition website [rica.net] fights the nigerian scam
scam alert [priveye.com]
A hilarious account of a revenge killing [theregister.co.uk] related to the 419 scam
Re:More information (Score:3, Insightful)
Now if the murder victim was one of the scam artists, I'd be dancing a little jig right now.
Now we have the answer (Score:2, Troll)
Re:Now we have the answer (Score:2)
2. Profit!!
You forgot a few steps:
1. Send out unsolicited email to Brit
2. FLUORIDE
3. ????? 2. Profit!!
Don't you mean.... (Score:2)
The scam is in the transfer fees. (Score:5, Insightful)
What the article fails to point out is that these scammers don't just drain your bank account, they actually request you pay certain 'transfer fees' so that they can get the money moved across. These 'transfer fees', inevitably, are thousands of dollars. Anyone paying them is an idiot.
And that's all this is. I think those scammers deserve every red cent. THIS IS A TAX ON THE STUPID and ignorant, something we should have the state taxing, but if the Nigerians have to do it, so be it.
This is another 'tax' that, like duty on cigarettes and alcohol, doesn't affect me at all.. so I'm all for it.
(Notice how the people scammed all actually had thousands in savings.. a sign that the greedy people aren't the poor, they're the already rich)
Re:The scam is in the transfer fees. (Score:3, Insightful)
Bad statistics. The people scammed all had money (to begin with) because the people running these scams don't bother with people who don't have money.
Rich people, historically, have been more likely to die in Concorde plane crashes, but that doesn't mean that rich people enjoy flying on Concorde jets more; it just means that the poor never get onto concorde jets in the first place.
Guess what. (Score:2)
If you have access to the US electronic banking system (not hard to do, there is paperwork & security checks, but it's not that hard, many small businesses do it), you can drain someone's account with just their account number. yes. really.
Yes, obviously you can go to jail if ytou do this without permission.. but they ask questions after the fact.
It takes 48 hours for funds to clear. If someone doesn't notice, in time, that the funds were wired away, they could quickly be wired somewhere else.
Re:The scam is in the transfer fees. (Score:2)
OT: Sig (Score:2)
You need to work a beowulf cluster into there somewhere.
What if.. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:What if.. (Score:2)
Re:What if.. (Score:2)
Of course you should be willing to pay the NSF charge when they overdraw your account.
Re:What if.. (Score:2)
Not very easily in these third world nations due to their laws, buerocracies, inefficieny, and local corruption. That was one of the problems the US faced in tracking down the Al Quida terrorists.
where to forward this rubbish (Score:3, Informative)
419@spring39.demon.co.uk and new.scotland.yard@met.police.uk
OK, not difficult, but my bit at helping nail these crooks.
Skeptical (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Skeptical (Score:2)
That's the reported figure. I'm guessing there's a threshold between shame and desperate hope that you may get your money back. If I lost GBP 7,000 I might realize that there's very little hope of recovering my money for the risk of embarrassment I'd get for reporting it. If I lost $150,000 I might throw ego out the window and hope to God and the government that someone can get my money back; I might even think that the large amount lost makes my loss more important for others to pay attention to.
Stoopid is as Stoopid does... (Score:2)
Okay, those of you with your hands up... have I got a great deal for you. For just 9.99....
Stupid people are everywhere (Score:5, Insightful)
You should learn about statistics. (Score:2)
What you mean is below median intelligence.
Re:You should learn about statistics. (Score:2)
I just love this kind of thing. There's almost nothing more delightful to me than seeing someone arrogantly proclaim their superiority while actually demonstrating their inferiority.
You see it a lot on Slashdot, actually.
Re:You should learn about statistics. (Score:2, Funny)
Join him. The above poster didn't specify whether it was a mean, median or modal average, nor the digits of accuracy of the number 50.
My experience is that the hypothesis about stupidity is true, even for very large values of 50 (50%).
Re:Stupid people are everywhere (Score:2)
Actually, that isn't necessarily true. Observe:
10 + 10 + 10 + 10 + 1 + 1 = 42.
42 / 6 = 7
The average is 7, but only 33.33% of the original addends are below the average, while 66.67% of them are above average.
Re:Stupid people are everywhere (Score:2)
Where is the list? (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, though, has anybody considered how easy it would be to data mine the output from credit cards or supermarket loyalty cards etc. to identify gullible people? People with a big annual spend who buy gold plated hi-fi connectors, or crystals to stop damaging radiation from computer monitors, or some of the more ridiculously expensive "health" foods. Oh wait, I just saw the special offers on my credit card statement. Someone just did.
Re:Where is the list? (Score:2)
You don't have to data mine, you just have to troll. The bait is silly money making offers. I attended one of those home business conference/sales pitch thingys a while back, stupidly signed up for a couple of them and in addition to wasting money on stupid businesses I got a barage of emails offering more stupid business ideas.
Once they hook a sucker they put him on the sucker list and sell it to others.
Re:Where is the list? (Score:3, Insightful)
To my mind, the idea that you could go and do something trivially easy and become rich makes it self-evidently untrue. Otherwise, everyone would be doing it. However, the people that fall for these sorts of things see it the other way around. They think, "But your skepticism is an example of why everyone isn't doing this, and why people like us--who can see an opportunity for what it is--are the few that make so much money this way."
Personally, I think this susceptibility is a specific example of a more general problem. The general problem is that people are not even remotely aware enough of how likely they are--on any given judgment--to be wrong. I'm always aware that a) I could be wrong about any specific matter; and b) I am definitely wrong about some significant number of matters at any given time. I'm always looking for evidence that contradicts my always-a-work-in-progress judgment. People that want to influence you and fool you about something, if you're not ever vigilant (and have a prideful fear of being proven wrong), will only need to sumrount that first and only barrier of doubt--then they have you hooked. It's smooth sailing from then on out.
Cried Wolf... (Score:2, Redundant)
Oh, wait...the British, I guess. Nevermind.
Check out Scam o Rama (Score:2, Interesting)
Will Scotland Yard release there addresses? (Score:2, Funny)
Will Scotland Yard please release the 150 e-mail addresses?
I have some really interesting never-to-be-repeated offers that will interest them.
I think these scammers share info, too (Score:3, Interesting)
Well, ever since then, guess what? We get about one of these scam emails per *day*, all slightly different and from different origins.
So I guess these scammers resell mailing lists of people who reply to their original scam letters!
Darwinism. (Score:2)
Are willing to participate in a scam to deprive a third world nation of millions of dollars through contract fraud, embezzlement or something similar and who are also...
B) willing to put a lot of trust in co-conspirators for such a transaction...
:)
...are getting rooked for almost 6 figures USD apiece? What's the problem?
These people make SPAM work... (Score:3, Insightful)
Kjella
Einstein (Score:3, Informative)
One of my favorites (which isn't listed on that page above) is: "I have reached an age where, if someone tells me to put my shoes on, I don't have to."
Theres a local farmer here who actually went (Score:2)
He was released soon after the money ran out. He gets laughed at alot by everyone here.
Could this be a hoax? (Score:2)
1) How could anyone STUPID enough to buy this scam actually have acrued so much money to start with?
2) How could they work a computer with webbed fingers and plankton in place of their brains?
Oh yeah... 3) Profit!
Re:Could this be a hoax? (Score:2)
Ever heard of inheritance?
Nigerian 419 scam (Score:2)
The only thing I can think of is the foreign tech support offices I email. Or a vendor email list im on.
HAHA! (Score:2)
this used to make me mad... (Score:2)
Modest Proposal... (Score:2)
There's the instant argument that it only hurts the innocent citizens of Nigeria, but certainly the proliferation of the scam hurts the international opinion of Nigeria as well as the reputation for legitimate business investment. A threat to foreign aid could be an excellent wake-up call for reform and rule of law in Nigeria.
Cheers,
Mzilikazi
*A cursory search revealed no solid numbers for UK aid to Nigeria, though I welcome anyone who can find the annual amount. Total foreign aid appears to be around $250 million a year, with around $27 million of that from the US, but those numbers are several years old.
Re:Surprising? (Score:3, Interesting)
Or not, if that spelling's anything to go by... Just kidding ;o)
I think it's mainly jelousy on our part. We used to be a world player but now we're reduced to hanging on to the tails of Mr. Bush like some sort of flunkie. Most Americans I have met and spoken to are as intelligent and well-mannered as any Briton, most of the time more so. You just have a propensity for electing to office the same fools we do :o)
Re:Surprising? (Score:2)
We do drive on the right side - the left side. Left is right and right is wrong. Could it be simpler?
Besides, globally are more miles of left-hand drive roads that there are right-hand drive. But there are more right-hand driver cars in the world. So driving on the left means less congestion. Try it sometime.
Re:Some of those are quite elaborate (Score:2)
must be that the scammers know me, not going to waste time on actually writing something legible up, instead just filling their quota for the day!
Re:Some of those are quite elaborate (Score:5, Insightful)
Scamming is about distracting the brain away from the absurdity of the scam. It's a cleverly crafted letter, believe me. The details such as the upper case and bad spelling are distractions; the large amount of money is a distraction--either a temptation for you to steal it all or 'proof' that these people have plenty of money and don't need to scam you, depending on your type. The government employee or royal relationship, the details of why they can't get it out or why it's stuck, etc..
It's all designed to distract you and to be interpreted different ways by different personality types. Your brain throws out what's not relevant to you and rationalizes the existing information into something you can trust. The brain rationalizes the bad grammar as the fact that they are from Nigeria or that the writer is stressed from being in a hurry or from political strife and somehow that enhances the feeling of trust. In the case of the grandparent post the letter was directed more specifically, probably as a legitimate business case, and in that situation a different approach (proper spelling and grammar, correct title and name) is used to create the distractions and trust.
Some suckers see an opportunity to steal the whole bankroll; some see an 'honest' chance at getting a large fee for helping these people out (and yet somehow ignore the fact that the people are violating rules and laws in the process); and so forth.
After making contact the scammers are skilled at presenting plausible-sounding scenarios where the money they need from you decreases or increases as they find out what you're able and/or willing to pay.
I'm speaking from personal experience and not from reading or traditional schooling: I got conned once on a small time basis ($117 by two guys on the street, but I was 18 and that was all the money I had that week), and in retrospect I see all the ways I discarded some of the information they gave me and rationalized the rest, and how different people would've fallen for the same scam for different reasons; it's quite a marvel what the brain does and how scammers exploit it. In retrospect my guys tempted me with greed, good samaritanism, religion, sex and race relations (political correctness) that I can recall--there was probably more. I fell for the good samaritanism and race relations and ignored the other temptations, but once they find out what you're about they work on trust and confidentiality. The key is to build mutual trust so they can walk away with your money (literally in my case), and for you to not tell anyone else because a third party will almost always immediately see how stupid the whole thing is because they didn't go through the ridiculous brain conditioning you did to arrive at the mental state you're at.
That con was the most humiliating event in my life. At the time $117 was a lot of money but not so much that I went hungry or lost my home, but the shame and humiliation is for how I fell for something so stupid. 15 years later I can now look back on it as a cheap lesson and thank God it didn't happen later when I had more to lose, but come to think of it I've never told anyone outside the family about it until now. I was living week-to-week then; I can't imagine how people who've lost months or years of work/money would feel; probably suicidal.
It is hard to feel sorry for people who fell for the 419 scam, and even I had no sympathy for them. But now that I recall my con, you need to realize these con men are very professional and know how to twist your head off of your shoulders and make you believe anything; once you fall for the initial hook they are experts at maneuvering you to the sting.
Re:Some of those are quite elaborate (Score:2)
I don't suppose I could convince you to describe it? If it's really that embarassing, then never mind.
My Small Time Con (Score:5, Informative)
Okay, but realize it will probably sound completely stupid to you; it even sounds stupid to me; it sounded stupid to me as soon as I realized that my money was gone.
I don't recall all the details, but here is the gist of it:
I was 18 and driving home from either school (college) or work. While driving past a small old-fashioned grocery store two blocks from my house a black man (I'm white) waved me down asking for help; I don't recall why I stopped; I think he had money or something in his hand that attracted my attention. (Note that non gullible people would've driven by; us suckers wander out of the crowd and identify ourselves to a troll like this, so they already know they have someone they can work with.)
He spoke poor english and wanted some help with money; he had a thick roll of it which later I figured out must've been a roll of blank paper with a couple of $20's on the outside to make it look like a couple thousand. (Showing the money is the first hook attempt: the man appears naive and vulnerable; some might want to take advantage and either steal the money or earn a helpers fee, some like me just want to help him not lose it. It also implies that he's not trying to steal money from you since he obviously has plenty, or at least that's how my brain worked.)
The details escape me, and this story unfolded (and was surely adapted to my vulnerabilities) throughout the con even after the 2nd guy joined in, but it was something like this: He was a sailor or something and had to get back to his ship (and this in the middle of North Texas; wtf?), but for some reason he needed to put his money in a safe place, and it wouldn't be safe if he took it with him. he And didn't trust U.S. banks. Oh yeah, he was a foreigner, too. There was probably some story about family or something that needed the money, but I don't recall exactly.
Okay, so some of this story was started, and I parked my car in the grocery lot and was following him inside (I don't recall why exactly, but it was to help him somehow; maybe to help him understand how to get a money order or something.) On the way in a second man (also black, but it doesn't matter) came out of the store and the "sailor" asked him for help, too. (I never had any clue these guys knew each other until the money was gone.)
So now from my ponit of view there was a person in need and two strangers trying to help him, and the two helpers didn't see eye-to-eye on everything.
Again, details escape me, but between the three of us we came up with that the "sailor" needed to put the money in a bank, but we had to demonstrate to him that the banks and we helpers were trustworthy. During this process the 2nd guy briefly introduced topics such as a pastor down the street and a whorehouse down the street; at the time my brain dismissed these items as completely irrelevant and I steered the discussion towards more relevant matters. (Later I realized he was trolling different possible con scenarios to see where I'd bite...so he could tell by my reactions exactly which direction in which to proceed with the con.)
I only had a few dollars which wasn't enough to demonstrate trust, but they asked if I had a paycheck to cash or something and I did; I had just been paid and hadn't cashed the check yet, but the check was at home. So they convinced me to cash the check; we all 3 got in my car and drove 2 blocks to my house; the second guy told me not to tell my Mom (I was living with Mom and told them so when they asked if I lived with someone), and stupidly I didn't mention it to her; I dutifully went in the house and got my paycheck while two con men sat in the car probably discussing strategy and contingincies.
Then we all drove to a bigger grocery store that would cash my check; this was North Texas in 1988 and on the way there was an intersection where the Ku Kux Klan were demonstrating dressed up in their sheets and waving signs. The "sailor" screamed "the killers!" and shivered in the back seat...an effective method (on me) of generating sympathy. Somehow us two "helpers" calmed him down.
One of the guys accompanied me into the grocery store where I cashed my check.
After returning to my car, the second guy, the other "helper" gave me his wallet and the "sailor" and I walked around the grocery store (out of sight from the "helper" for a few minutes) to demonstrate that the second helper trusted us. I think this was the helper's idea, and I thought it was stupid but the "sailor" seemed to like the idea and was in hook, line and sinker.
While walking around the building the "sailor" kept expressing amazement that the guy trusted us to do this.
The second demonstration of trust was that I gave them my $117 and waited for them to walk around the grocery store. After this the "sailor" would supposedly trust us enough to put his money in a safe place of our recommendation (a bank or money order...I don't recall the exact plan).
Of course you know the end of the story...I never saw them again after they rounded the corner with my $117.
What's horrible is the slow realization that you've been connned. There I was, sitting in my car alone. I had a bad feeling in my gut as soon as they rounded the corner; it briefly occured to me to drive around and check on them, but no, that would ruin everything that we'd worked on so far my brain told me. So I sat. A minute or two passed, and alone in my car I started thinking about how absurd this was, but I hadn't quite realized it was gone yet. I waited and waited and after I was convinced they had been too long I drove around the store and they were no where to be seen.
I can't tell you how humiliating it is; the worst part is realizing how obvious it was the whole time and yet my own brain seemed to be what conned me more than those two. I even realized at the time that some of the discussion was way out of left field, but I--not the scammers--was able to dismiss or rationalize it away. I went home and was in a mixed state of frustration, fury, embarrassment, etc.. I was on the verge of tears. Mom could tell something was wrong and was very worried. It was hard to speak, but I told her what happened. I don't think I told anyone else for at least a few months, and I never told anyone outside of the family until now.
Actually, I hadn't thought about it in a while. It used to be a source of internal shame for me; I suppose I'm finally "over it" after 14 or 15 years. And in retrospect I have some valuable insights out of it for a fairly cheap price. Not that I'd thank them if I ever saw them again....
Now that I think about it, these guys almost never quit talking; I think the idea was to throw too much information at me for me to stop and think about what I was doing; I was too busy rationalizing some of the information and discarding the rest as irrelevant.
These guys were small time, and in retrospect I'm possibly lucky that they didn't outright rob me or take my car, too. The car was traceable, so I suspect they just wanted the cash, and I suspect they would've robbed me in certain scenarios but I was gullible enough that they were able to walk away with the cash easily. It took me over a week to earn that money and it took them probably an hour or two to con me out of it.
You and I could point out countless errors in judgement and alternative action after reading the above scenario, but the con men are good at distraction and manipulation. I suspect there was a thrid guy who might've posed as the pastor if I had gone that route or who might've driven a getaway car at the back of the grocery store.
In reading about other scams, greed seems to be the biggest and most effective hook. Greed, religion (proving your faith through helping a brother) and good samaritanism seem to be the most common hooks. Actually sometmies I think these are combined: maybe the target wants to be a good samaritan but is also distracted by the possibility of getting a piece of the money at stake.
Distraction and confidentiality are importatnt, too. They need to keep you thinking about what YOU want out of the "deal" so you don't stop to think how absurd the situation is or ask someone else for advice. In the 419 scams the greed factor and the 'fact' that breaching confidentiality will make the deal impossible or even dangerous for the other party work to keep the target focused on money and practical details and pitfalls and a seemingly guaranteed "lottery win". I'm guessing many targets are also distracted by thinking what they're going to spend the money on.
Since my guys brought up sex and religion I suspect those are common distractions if the target indicates interest. I've heard of small time scams where "brothers" bilk a lady out of money for "tools" and such for their trade, and I read an account of someone who played the game to see what the 419 scammers would do, and that conversation went religious as the scammer claimed deep spiritual beliefs.
Sex is probably a distraction reserved for small time scams; I'm not sure how that would work in a more sophisticated scam. Actually I'm not sure how that work work small time; I suppose that might end in an outright robbery or leaving the John/target waiting for a woman (or man) in a room while the scammers take off.
I think the art of conning is to entice the target with several types of bait and then work up the story based on his preferred bait and then watch what the target does and follow; I think the con is mostly directed by the target's own expectations and rationalizations and the con men are along for the ride.
Going back to feeling sorry for these "idiots" who got scammed...I had little or no sympathy for them, either, but now I'm reconsidering that. The con is a troll for targets, for the weak or gullible, and fruequently--though not always--for the greedy. It's still hard to feel sorry for the greedy, but the gullible and well-intended get hooked, too. Once you've been hooked I think it's fairly easy for a pro to get to the sting.
Coming up with an outrageous analogy, if people were leaving bear traps (the snap-onto-your-leg kind) around, most people would be smart enough to avoid them. But there would be a small few who would be distracted or just ignorant enough to step into one. (Let's ignore kids since these types of scams we're discussing seem to be unable to target kids.) To the rest of us the traps are just an annoyance we can step around like deleting a 419 email or passing by the man selling Rolexes or whatever. Should we laugh at those who step in the bear traps and say it's their fault for being stupid and applauding Darwin selection?
Re:My Small Time Con (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:A sucker born every minute (Score:2)
Re:Don't you just love the people of the UK! (Score:2)
Re:need to stop spam at source (Score:2)
Now if we could get some excellent and widely used spam filters to take the rate down another order of magnitude or two, we'd be getting somewhere. With only a few dozen responses per billion, they'd be hard pressed to pay the bandwidth bills.
Re:Does that mean (Score:2, Insightful)